Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Rahul : The Fortunate Son of India

Rahul Gandhi's ascension to the party leadership reminds me of some interesting stories that are there in the controversial biography of George W Bush named "Fortunate son" by J.H Hatefield. The book had exposed some of the hitherto unknown details about the real person behind Bush. How he received preferential treatment throughout his life was a major theme of the book. His schooling in world class institutes, business forays, and things so on. But in the end, no such treatment, care or education could change a very fundamental thing. The simple fact that he was highly incompetent and utterly inefficient.

Not surprisingly during his initial campaigning period, when quizzed about some basic political questions like naming then Prime Minster of India and President of Pakistan, he had miserably failed on all the counts. But the shocking failure did not have any adverse effect on his campaign. Instead, he won the election not just once, but twice.

Actually he didn't have to be competent. A puppet like him was all that needed to "lead" word's super power in the neo-liberal era. There was a highly sophisticated system in place to protect the interests of the real rulers sitting behind the curtain. Highly "capable" people like Dick Cheney and political adviser Karl Rove knew what to do and how to manipulate things.(As someone said of Karl Rove, he was indeed the "brain behind the brainless" ) . In the eight long years, a thoroughly executed script exclusively favoring the elite class of America was implemented by the team scrupulously. It made the poor Americans poorer by an order of magnitude while the rich got richer equally well. And the "collateral damage" inflicted upon the world was unparalleled in the recent history.

Fast forward, history is repeating. Indian corporate forces need a similar puppet to replicate the same here too. And none other than Rahul makes the perfect choice for the task. Raised in a family and milieu that has always been highly protective of the family conglomerates of India, he is ideal for the task. Like Bush, the "fortunate son" of India had gone to some of the best universities in the world but lacks the basic understanding about his(?) own people and culture. Other than the occasional "prepared statements" and barely articulated "speeches", he never utter anything of his own. Often, his involvement in selecting the candidates have had disastrous consequences on his party's election results. His performance in parliament during these years as an MP was marked by an absolute silence during all the major debates(sad that even the very best training would fail in this count! ). Carefully engineered dramas like "spending the night with tribal families" and "sharing the lunch with poor" made him look ridiculous at best.

Luckily, with a fragmented opposition and utterly inefficient opponents, who are vigorously competing with the ruling front for their own share of the cake, things look prosperous for him. Rahul, along with his equally incompetent mom is very likely to "rule" India in the coming years. And Reliance, Wallmart, Vedanta et al will decide what should be happening in India. With his extra luxurious and friendly policies for them, his dad had helped Dhirubahi Ambani to "create" Reliance from rag. From there, the governments under his mom's patronship have made Reliance what it is today. Now it is the pampered son's turn to take it further and help them fly even higher. And the "brains behind the brainless" led by Chidambaram would make sure that all this is beautifully implemented inside the camouflage of democracy. They will share whatever is left in the the lands, forests and rivers of India among themselves. The difference among various parties and leaders would become even more blurred. The only real difference would be between the poor and rich. The only two parties with any difference in India would be the "haves" and the "have nots". Have nots can enjoy all the incentives like price hikes, farmers' suicide, displacement from their houses and lands and much more. Everything like Terrorism, Maoism and Pakistan would be used in the right time and manner to manipulate the public opinion and keep the rabble in line.